Peterson Steel

What Peterson Steel does

Peterson Steel Corporation is a privately held, full-line metal service center founded in 1965 and headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts. The company supplies ferrous and non-ferrous metals — including carbon steel (grades 1018, 12L14, 1045, 1144), alloy steel (4140, 8620, 4340, 52100), stainless steel (Types 303, 304, 316, 416), brass (Alloy 360), bronze (C932, C954), aluminum (6061), DCF plate products, and Dura-Bar continuous cast iron — to manufacturers and distributors across the United States. Its core operations consist of inventorying several million pounds of prime material purchased in bulk from producing mills worldwide, maintaining over 500 in-stock Dura-Bar sizes, and offering value-added processing through 20 production band saws, 3 plate saws, CNC band mills, a Kentai carbide CNC cold saw, and a CNC vertical turret lathe with 24-inch capacity and 10-station tool holder.

Peterson Steel operates a sales-led go-to-market model with no minimum order requirement, an unusual policy in the metal distribution industry. Customers reach the company through toll-free and local phone lines, website contact forms, and direct outreach, with no published pricing — quotes are issued on a transactional basis. The company ships coast to coast using its own modern fleet of trucks, handling both small custom orders and larger volume requests from manufacturers of precision machined components, tooling, dies, and machinery parts. Revenue is generated entirely through hardware sales of metals and metal products plus the processing services bundled with them.

The company has operated continuously for nearly six decades, holds BBB accreditation for its Worcester location, and maintains an authorized distributor partnership with Dura-Bar, whose continuous cast iron products offer up to 50% faster machinability versus steel and carry a zero-defect guarantee. The organization is closely held with no parent company, no institutional investors, and no disclosed M&A activity; its ownership structure appears consistent with a private family or closely held corporation. Recent strategic activity has centered on extending processing capabilities (CNC vertical turret lathe services, third plate saw added in 2013) and broadening specialty inventory (DCF plate, metric precision ground shafting).

Name

Peterson Steel

Legal name

Peterson Steel Corporation

Website

https://petersonsteel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1965

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Peterson Steel is a privately held, full-line metal service center in Worcester, MA, founded in 1965, supplying carbon, alloy, and stainless steel plus brass, bronze, aluminum, DCF plate, and Dura-Bar cast iron to manufacturers and distributors nationwide with no minimum order requirement and coast-to-coast fleet delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Metal Service Center

NAICS

Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel (3312)

SIC

Wholesale-Metals Service Centers & Offices (5051)

akta.pro primary industry

Steel Service Centers & Processing (Slitting, Cut-to-Length, Blanking, Leveling) (IMAKABAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Steel Products Trading & Service Centers (Flat, Long, Pipe & Tube, Rebar) (IMAKAJAB)

Keywords

• Metal service center
• Carbon steel supply
• Alloy steel bar stock
• Dura-Bar distributor
• Metal processing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Worcester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Inventory and Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Metal Product Sales: Peterson Steel generates revenue through the sale of metals and metal products including carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, brass, bronze, aluminum, DCF plate, and Dura-Bar cast iron. They operate as a full-line metal service center with no minimum order requirement, selling directly to manufacturers and distributors of all sizes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Peterson Steel operates as a full-line metal service center supplying ferrous and non-ferrous metal bar stock — including carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, brass, bronze, aluminum, DCF plate, and Dura-Bar continuous cast iron — to manufacturers and distributors across the United States. The company complements its metal supply with value-added processing services such as saw cutting, CNC band sawing, CNC band mill operation, and CNC vertical turret lathe turning, facing, and hole boring, operating with a NO MINIMUM ORDER policy.

Product overview

Peterson Steel is a full line metal service center serving the northeast since 1965, offering a comprehensive portfolio of ferrous and non-ferrous metal products. The company provides Alloy Steel (4140, 8620, 4340, 52100 grades), Carbon Steel (1018, 12L14, 1045, 1144 grades), Stainless Steel (Types 303, 304, 316, 416), Brass (Alloy 360), Bronze (C932, C954), Aluminum (6061), DCF Plate products, and Dura-Bar Continuous Cast Iron in various grades. The product portfolio is complemented by value-added processing services including saw cutting, CNC machining, and turning operations, with no minimum order requirement and coast-to-coast distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Alloy Steel Medium carbon chromium-molybdenum alloy steel bar stock available in grades 4140 Annealed, 4140 Heat Treated, 8620, 4340, and 52100 in rounds, squares, hexagons, and plate, for industrial manufacturers.
• Carbon Steel General-purpose low to medium carbon steel bar stock in grades 1018, 12L14, 1045, and 1144 with HR, CD, and TG&P finishes, supplied to manufacturers and distributors.
• Stainless Steel Austenitic and martensitic stainless steel bar stock including Types 303, 304, 316, and 416 for industrial applications requiring corrosion resistance and machinability.
• Brass Free-machining brass Alloy 360 HH (C360000) bar stock offering the highest machinability of all copper alloys, used by manufacturers needing precision components.
• Bronze Copper-based alloys including C932 Bearing Bronze and C954 Aluminum Bronze, supplied for bearing, bushing, and wear-resistant industrial applications.
• Aluminum Type 6061 aluminum alloy bar stock providing lightweight, heat-treatable material with corrosion resistance for industrial manufacturers.
• DCF Plate Decarb-free steel plate products including Low Carbon DCF (137 Brinell), 4142 Modified Pre-Heat Treated DCF (262-321 Brinell), and 4140 Annealed alloy, all stress relieved and ground to 50/75 RMS finish for tooling and die applications.
• Dura-Bar Cast Iron Continuous cast iron bar stock in grades 65-45-12 Ductile Iron, 80-55-06 Ductile Iron, 100-70-03 Ductile Iron, and G2 Gray Iron, offered with over 500 in-stock sizes as an authorized Dura-Bar distributor.
• Value-Added Metal Processing Services Metal processing services including 20 production band saws (up to 32" diameter), 3 plate saws (up to 24" thick), Kentai carbide CNC production cold saw (up to 4-3/8" diameter), CNC band mill for producing bar stock from plates, and CNC vertical turret lathe with 24" capacity and 10-station tool holder for turning, facing, and hole boring.
• Metric Precision Ground Shafting Turned, ground, and polished shafting in metric sizes from 12MM to 100MM in hardened alloy and carbon steel, stocked for industrial buyers needing metric precision shafting.

Quantifiable outcome

• Machinability up to 50% faster with Dura-Bar continuous cast iron compared to carbon and alloy steels
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Dura-Bar (Continuous Cast Iron Products)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 1961Peterson Steel is an authorized distributor of Dura-Bar continuous cast iron products. Dura-Bar has been providing continuous cast iron bar stock since 1961. Dura-Bar offers numerous physical and structural advantages over steel, castings and aluminum including faster machining (up to 50%), virtually zero scrap, superior surface finishes, vibration damping, and weight reduction benefits. Peterson Steel stocks over 500 in-stock sizes of Dura-Bar products.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ryerson: Publicly-traded, multi-site North American metal service center offering carbon, alloy, stainless, aluminum, and value-added processing across a far broader footprint and product range than Peterson Steel. Closest public-market comparable for the service center + processing model.
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum: The largest US metals service center operator with 300+ locations and broad product coverage including carbon, stainless, aluminum, and toll processing. Direct analog at scale for Peterson Steel's distribution + processing model.

Direct peers

• Olympic Steel: Mid-sized US service center focused on carbon, stainless, and aluminum flat-rolled and tubular products with in-house processing. Directly comparable business model to Peterson Steel's flat-rolled DCF plate plus bar stock offering.
• Kloeckner Metals: Specialty metals service center offering carbon, stainless, aluminum and value-added processing for manufacturers across the US. Directly comparable on product breadth, customer base (OEMs/fabricators), and processing-led GTM.
• TW Metals: Specialty metals service center with strong focus on stainless, aluminum, and alloy bar/tube products for industrial OEMs. Closest direct peer to Peterson Steel's specialty bar stock and niche product positioning.
• Russel Metals: Canadian-headquartered service center group distributing steel and non-ferrous metals with processing capabilities across North America. Comparable on product mix (carbon/stainless/aluminum + processing) and customer base in industrial manufacturing.

Emerging players

• OnlineMetals: Online-first small-quantity metals service center selling cut-to-size bar, sheet, and tube to small-order buyers. Directly competitive with Peterson Steel's no-minimum-order position from a digital-first angle, representing both a peer and a potential competitive threat.

Regional players

• Klein Steel: Upstate New York-based regional metals service center serving Northeast manufacturers with carbon, stainless, aluminum, and processing services. Strong regional analogue to Peterson Steel's Northeast footprint and small/manufacturer customer focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Peterson Steel